“Thunder And Steel Down Under” – first ever RIOT tribute album, will be released this Friday, on April 24, 2015, via Skol Records. Compilation has been produced by Bart Gabriel (Sacred Steel, Crystal Viper, Jack Starr’s Burning Starr), and will include Riot classics peformed by bands and artists such as: Axel Rudi Pell, Crystal Viper, Attacker, Alpha Tiger, October 31, Savage Master, Night Demon, Dexter Ward and others. The CD will be limited to only 1000 copies worldwide. Income from the album will be given to Sir Tony Reale – father of the late Riot guitarist and founding member, Mark Reale.

As it was mentioned on VH1’s “That Metal Show”, RIOT are one of the innovators of Metal music in America and beyond. Their albums such as “Fire Down Under”, “Rock City”, “Narita”, “Restless Breed” or “Born In America” are the classics of Heavy Metal, and their ’88 LP “Thundersteel” helped to shape a genre which we know as Power Metal. Band’s history has been marked by bunch of tragic events: Rhett Forrester who fronted Riot between 1981 and 1986 was killed in 1994, the original vocalist Guy Speranza (in Riot between 1975 and 1981) lost his battle with cancer in 2003, and band’s founding member and leader Mark Reale (who was also the only one constant Riot member since the beginning of the band) left us in 2012, after suffering Crohn’s disease.

The band left 14 studio albums, and after Mark’s Reale death, remaining Riot members decided to continue his legacy and after changing the name to Riot V, returned with phenomenal album titled “Unleash The Fire”. “Thunder And Steel Down Under” is not a usual compilation with bunch of cover songs. It’s a celebration of the Riot and Mark Reale legacy, and a homage paid by both American and European bands and musicians, who were influenced by this premier act.

German Heavy Metal Guitar Wizard Axel Rudi Pell celebrated his 25th anniversary as a solo artist with a once-in-a-lifetime performance at the ‘Bang Your Head’ Festival on July 11th 2014, in Balingen, Germany, featuring a stellar line-up of famous invited friends (alongside his current band line-up), in front of over 15,000 fans.

Steamhammer / SPV are now set to release a very special ‘Magic Moments – 25th Anniversary Special Show’ 3CD, 3DVD and Blu-Ray, capturing the show, (one that is unlikely to ever be seen again in this constellation), on Steamhammer / SPV on April 27th.

Former drummer Joerg Michael (Running Wild, Stratovarius), celebrated tub thumper Vinnie Appice (Dio, Black Sabbath), and ex-Rainbow keyboard player Tony Carey, as well as the entire original line-up of Axel’s first band, Steeler, also took to the stage during the three hour set.

It took almost a year to set everything up. “The actual organisation started in the summer of 2013 when the promoter and I went public with the idea of this event,”

Axel tells with obvious relief. He´s still happy about how things have turned out. With a little help from his friends at his booking agency, the Bochum guitarist set up an extraordinary line-up. “It was mostly all about personal contacts”, because after more than 30 years in the business Axel Rudi Pell is not only well-known, but also well-respected in the worldwide rock community, so the affix “& Friends“ is not one of those usual exaggerations.

Almost all of his favoured candidates agreed on this one July date. As Axel is an early bird, the whole organisation was fairly easy. Of course there were rehearsals, but only one day before the show. Over fifty minutes worth of footage from those remarkable sessions are featured on the DVD and Blu-ray versions of this package.

During those sessions Axel realized that something unique was happening. “Everybody involved had a blast and was right on track,” he remembers. Unfortunately, Doogie White had a prior engagement with Michael Schenker on that rehearsal day, but was replaced with ARP frontman Johnny Gioeli. And except for Charlie Huhn, who had

already agreed to play a gig in the USA with his current band Foghat, Axel´s former singers turned out in full force.

After a historical four-song Steeler reunion at the beginning of the show. Axel´s current lineup put on a best-of show with a blisteringly atmospheric version of the Neil Young classic “Hey Hey My My“ and a few epic ARP classics like “Mystica“, “The Masquerade Ball“, “Casbah“ and “Into The Storm“. You could feel those goose bumps spring up, and the climax was still to come: after a furioso battle between drum gods Vinnie Appice and Bobby Rondinelli, a long list of rock legends took the Balingen stage: stepping in for Joe Lynn Turner, who was tied up with business affairs, Pretty Maids frontman Ronnie Atkins performed a superb version of Deep Purple´s “Black Night“, including audience sing along. Then John Lawton, the former voice of Uriah Heep, demonstrated why he still deserves a lot of “Sympathy“ (Uriah Heep), and he was still looking for some “Tush“ (ZZ Top). When ex-Rainbow keyboard player Tony Carey joined in for an emotional “Mistreated“, the now available Doogie White and Johnny Gioeli set the roof on fire. Graham Bonnet, another Rainbow veteran from the glorious “Down To Earth“ era, remembered the good old times with “Since You Been Gone“ and, of course, the aforementioned “Long Live Rock´n´Roll“. At the endAt the end of those three hours plus, all guests (and friends!) gathered on stage for the grand finale “Smoke On The Water“, drawing a legendary evening to a spectacular close.

DVD2:
Burning Chains
Strong As A Rock
Long Way To Go
Hey Hey My My
Mystica
Into The Storm
Too Late / Eternal Prisoner / Too Late
The Masquerade Ball / Casbah
Rock The Nation
Drum Battle
Black Night
Sympathy
Tush
Mistreated
Since You Been Gone
Long Live Rock ´n` Roll
Smoke On The Water

July 11th 2014 will see Axel Rudi Pell celebrate his 25th anniversary as a solo artist by performing a very special show at the prestigious BANG YOUR HEAD FESTIVAL, in Balingen, Germany. Not only will he be joined on stage by some very special guests, but he will also be reunited with the original members from his former band STEELER.

Axel Rudi Pell will continue with the second part of the Into the Storm-Tour. A new date has already been added to the schedule, 19th September 2014, Switzerland, Once again, they will be supported by young German newcomers REBELLIOUS SPIRIT, who were so impressive on the first part of the tour, they’ve been invited back.

German heavy metal guitarist AXEL RUDI PELL started off with the band STEELER (1984–88) before leaving to start his solo career in 1989. There aren’t many artists around whose career has already lasted a quarter of a century. But then, there are even fewer who have experienced no setbacks whatsoever in 25 years. And there are only a few guitarists in the world of rock music who have created their own brand just with their name, resulting in over 1.5 million people buying their music. AXEL RUDI PELL is one of those rare exceptions. And so it doesn’t come as a surprise that his latest album “Into The Storm” (released on January 20 via SPV/Steamhammer) is also one of his best; after all, anniversaries are always special.

Besides being an excellent guitarist, AXEL RUDI PELL is also a person of great kindness with whom it’s always nice to exchange a few words. Just a couple of weeks before the release of “Into The Storm”, Tarja Virmakari had a chance to interview him (for Truemetal.it). Axel and Tarja discussed the new album in depth and his upcoming 25th anniversary party. Axel also gave his tribute to the Great RONNIE JAMES DIO, and spoke about their long lasting friendship. To discover more about this and much more, please join the conversation below.

Rich Davenport’s Rock Show this week features exclusive interviews with guitar maestro Axel Rudi Pell, Royal Hunt mastermind Andre Andersen, Gary Meskill of Pro-Pain/Darkhaus and Coldspell guitarist Michael Larsson, and is available now for streaming at this link.

In the first hour of the show, Axel Rudi Pell talks about his chart-storming new album “Into The Storm”, recruiting former Rainbow/ Black Sabbath/BOC drummer Bobby Rondinelli, and the band’s plans to mark their 25th anniversary this year. Axel also selects two songs from “Into The Storm”.

More melodic Metal follows from Royal Hunt, as keyboard maestro Andre Andersen gives the lowdown on their new album “A Life To Die For”, which sees the band working with orchestral instruments and a choir, with two tracks from the new release.

In part 2, Coldspell guitarist Michael Larsson discusses the band’s latest album “Frozen Paradise” and their well-received appearance at Melodicrockfest 3. Michael also chooses two tracks from the new album, and also picks a Thin Lizzy number for the show’s weekly Phil Lynott tribute spot.

And finally, Pro-Pain mainman Gary Meskill takes us through two exciting new releases, the face melting old-school Hardcore of Pro-Pain’s new album “The Final Revolution”, and the debut release from his new project, international Synth-Rock outfit Darkhaus, whose original sound blends ripping guitars and memorable melodies with influences from early 80s electronica.

The album will be available on limited edition digipak including two extra tracks + poster, double gatefold LP with coloured vinyl, standard version and download. Watch Out for the deluxe edition incl. digipak edition, plec, metalpin, poster, postcard, sticker and much more.

Pell recently announced dates for his 2014 European Tour, the first leg taking place in February.

The album will be available on limited edition digipak including two extra tracks + poster, double gatefold LP with coloured vinyl, standard version and download. Watch Out for the deluxe edition incl. digipak edition, plec, metalpin, poster, postcard, sticker and much more.

Pell recently announced dates for his 2014 European Tour, the first leg taking place in February.